This is a micro fiche message sent by Auntie Rene from Bournemouth telling my Dad (Aircraftsman George Henry Powis who was in Egypt) that my Mum had just given birth to a third son (Me). I found this among her effects after she died in 2005.
How was I born in Bournemouth when our family home was in Sidcup, Kent?
Here’s the back story: My Mum & Dad got married in 1936 and bought a terraced house in Sidcup, Kent. Before he was conscripted into ‘The Fleet Air Arm’ in November 1940 they had 2 sons (1938, 1940).
At the end of 1942 a bomb was dropped and made a direct hit on next door’s Anderson Shelter (they were both dug out alive). The blast blew out all the rear windows in the houses. Although the damage was quickly fixed the memory of it haunted my Mum. When my Dad was posted to Egypt she felt very alone and vulnerable (with 2 young boys and pregnant with me).
She determined to go to Bournemouth where her Mum & Dad lived with their 2 daughters. Unfortunately Bournemouth was a restricted area, and if you did not have the correct papers you would be turned back. Fortunately my mum knew that the train always stopped for 5 minutes before pulling into central station. When it did she got off the train, walked across the tracks & caught the bus home to her Mum’s house.
All was well until they ran out of ration book coupons! That’s another story!
